Exultate is pleased to present four marvelous soloists who will be performing with the Exultate Festival Choir and Orchestra in Mozart’s Requiem during our concerts in March of 2015. (Return to concert description)
Jodie-Marie Fernandes – Soprano
Soprano, Jodie-Marie Fernandes, is a devoted learner and performer of music with a plethora of complementary interests and pursuits. An avid lover of Bach’s music, she was invited to join the renowned and highly selective Bachakademie Stuttgart in 2014, performing the Bach motets with the JSB Ensemble and Orchestra in Germany and Tunisia. She has participated in Bach birthday celebrations with Emmanuel Music in Boston and maintained an active singing schedule as a soprano soloist with the MIT Concert Choir, performing the Mass in C by Beethoven, Mass in G minor by Vaughan Williams, and Mass in B-flat by Haydn, among others.
Ms. Fernandes has always been inspired by sacred music in sacred spaces, and by plainchant in particular, an affinity which was further nourished by her tenure as section leader at both the Cathedral of St. Paul, MN and First Baptist Church in Boston. Although her current primary profession is in the field of software project management, she is as proactive about her musical endeavors as time permits.
She has performed with the Boston Cantata Singers and VocalEssence. In addition to singing at churches in the Twin Cities, private vocal study, and recital preparation, she volunteers as the associate business director for the Twin City Voice Academy, a brand new non-profit which provides opportunities for professional coachings, master classes, and public performances to pre-professional solo singers. Ms. Fernandes holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from MIT and a Graduate Performance Diploma in vocal performance from Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA.
KrisAnne Weiss – Mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano, KrisAnne Weiss, has performed leading roles in many operas, including L’Italiana in Algeri, The Dangerous Liaisons, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Le Nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Carmen, and Madama Butterfly. She has sung with the Pine Mountain Music Festival, Fargo Moorhead Opera, Opera Omaha, Central City Opera, Minnesota Concert Opera, and Minnesota Opera. Her concert appearances include solos in Bach’s B minor Mass, St John Passion, and St. Matthew Passion; Mozart’s C Minor Mass, Coronation Mass, and Requiem; and Vivaldi’s Gloria and Magnificat. She has performed with Valley Chamber Chorale, St. Catherine Choral Society, the Bakken Trio, Lawrence University Symphony Orchestra, Mississippi Valley Orchestra, Plymouth Symphony, Bel Canto Chorus of Milwaukee, Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, Consortium Carissimi, Zeitgeist, and the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, among others. An advocate of contemporary music, Ms. Weiss has premiered a number of works, among them John Tartaglia’s orchestral work Dark Night, Glad Day, Edie Hill’s dramatic concert work Amy Lowell: A Rare Pattern, and the lead role in Chris Gable’s opera The Ladysmith Story. In 2014, she was one of five performers selected to join Nautilus Music-Theater’s Composer-Librettist studio, a two-week workshop that yielded 25 new music-theater works and culminated in two performances.
Ms. Weiss holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, and has taught on the voice faculties of the University of Minnesota, Lawrence University, and Luther College. Currently, she teaches in her private studio in St. Paul, at the Mount Olivet School of Music in Minneapolis, and on the faculty of Lutheran Summer Music Festival and Academy in Decorah, IA.
More information may be found by visiting her website.
Nickolas Karageorgiou – Tenor
Tenor, Nickolas Karageorgiou, is pleased to bring his singing career back to the Twin Cities. As a bright and versatile young tenor, Mr. Karageorgiou is heard in a wide array of repertoire and genres and commits to combining his experience as both a dynamic soloist and ensemblist.
Recently graduated from Indiana University, Mr. Karageorgiou has plugged himself into the wide array of Minnesota vocal ensembles, some of which include The Gregorian Singers, Schola Cantorum at the Basilica of St. Mary, and Hymnos. He also sang with Riverdance’s original lead vocalist, Katie McMahon, and her Celtic Christmas Show this past December.
While at Indiana University, Mr. Karageorgiou worked extensively with the NOTUS: IU Contemporary Vocal Ensemble led by Dr. Dominick DiOrio, which premiered new choral compositions, held a week-long residency with former King’s Singers member Simon Carrington, and made its Carnegie Hall debut this past March. Mr. Karageorgiou also performed with IU’s opera chorus, singing in major operatic productions of A View From the Bridge, Der Rosenkavalier, and Akhnaten. He also performed the lead in Just Four Guys, Bloomington’s local barbershop quartet, entertaining distinguished guests in the President’s Box during football games.
More information may be found by visiting his website.
Jeffrey A. Martin – Bass
Bass-Baritone, Jeffrey A. Martin, a native of Maryland, recently finished his Masters Degree at Peabody Conservatory at The Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Martin’s Peabody career took flight with The Peabody Conservatory as The Man with the Cornet Case/Puppet-master from Argento’s Postcard from Morocco, of which The Baltimore Sun said: “Jeffrey Martin brings solid tone and exemplary diction…” This formidable voice was heard this summer singing the roles of Osmin (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Sam (Trouble in Tahiti), Sergeant Bouncer (Cox and Box), and the Speaker (Die Zauberflöte) with Hubbard Hall Opera Theater in Cambridge, NY.
Jeffrey has performed in opera scenes as Cecil (Maria Stuarda), Leporello, Osmin, and Colline (La Boheme). During his tenure in Baltimore, Jeffrey performed Leporello (Don Giovanni) in Peabody’s collaboration with Lyric Opera Baltimore on the Lyric Opera stage. Recent concert performances include Mozart’s “Great” Mass in C Minor with Shepherd University’s Masterworks Chorale and Peabody Conservatory’s Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin. Recently, Jeffrey was found performing the role of Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) with La Musica Lirica Festival in Novafeltria, Italy in addition to performing Escamillo in the Peter Brooks adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen with the University of Minnesota. He can be found performing the title role in Le nozze di Figaro this spring at the University of Minnesota. Jeffrey is currently attending the University of Minnesota, pursuing his Doctorate in Vocal Performance.